Author: Hart Withrow Services

Quality Home Repair Service

May 1, 2024 / Hart Withrow Services

Here’s what to look for when you need repair work on your home.

First of all, someone who listens to you. You need to be able to trust that your repair professional will not come up with solutions that aren’t going to work, or that go over the amount of money you have to do the job. A quality repair means that clear communication is in place and everybody is on the same page.

Second, when you need a repair, there’s a good chance that other repair needs may be lurking beneath the surface. For example, moldings may be compromised by water, or the possibility that mold can form in an area that has been overlooked may mean that more than you had originally planned will need to be done. This is something that you need to be prepared to discuss with you home repair technician, sometimes known as your handyman. In this case, ask all the questions you need to, and explain your concerns. It goes back to the first point…are they listening?

Third, choose a person who is invested in your happiness and the well-being of your home and isn’t just there to mark up a job or add items that aren’t needed to put some cash in their pocket. You want to be able to communicate long term with the company you choose, so when you see that good communication is there from the beginning, it’s a good sign.

This is your home, or your place of business.

You need to have a level of trust and a partnership that is firm and that gives you peace of mind.

Sturdy Woodworks is the choice for professional home service that will take care of you the right way.

Detail Work and Moldings

April 16, 2024 / Hart Withrow Services

When you want your home to be its best, and you’re thinking about molding and baseboards, the details that will stand out can make a big difference.

Let’s look at materials, for example. The three main materials that are used are quality hardwoods, Multi Density Fiber, or MDF, and lastly, PVC molded materials.

Each of them has certain features that make them a good or bad choice for you situation.

Quality hardwoods are just what it says. They are made from real wood with durability and high visual appeal as the features that make them a good choice for a top-level job. You know they are going to last and with some woods, the grain is a special touch that really stands out. Anywhere that you want to make the details really count, hardwood is the way to go.

With MDF, the big factor is cost. These are materials that are molded and are very much like cardboard, but with a denser content. They are designed to be painted with epoxy or other types of paint that give them their integrity, so they can hold up under use. They can also be covered by films designed for that purpose. When looks don’t matter and weather isn’t a factor, these can be serviceable.

Last, PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, is the same material used in water pipes. It too is molded into shape. The advantage is that it’s going to last indefinitely, but the feeling of high quality is not part of the equation. When pained, it can look pretty good for industrial applications.

To sum up, when making a choice for trim, look at all aspects of your needs before making a choice. I’m happy to go over your project to help you understand your specific needs, make a recommendation, and do the job that will exceed your expectations.

Finish Carpentry Work Under Pressure

April 7, 2024 / Hart Withrow Services

I talked a bit about why I got into focusing on finish carpentry after working on bridges.

Now let’s look at what it’s like doing fine finish carpentry on older homes, such as the ones in Columbus area towns like Arlington. It’s not that there isn’t any pressure, it’s that the pressure is a different kind. We are striving for excellence in a close-up setting, your home.

Typical houses that I work on are older, built between fifty and seventy years ago. Many of them have finely carved wood details that need some tender loving care.

There are lots of small details in the high-end finishes that need attention as the house owners look to have different types of maintenance or upgrades. Some of the wood is fragile from age.

It’s very. Important to have the details done right, or else the luxurious feeling that features like crown molding add to a room won’t give the desired effect.

We talk about what you want before a single tool comes out, and make a plan that suits your exact specifications.

That’s where the pressure to provide excellence comes in.

For example, getting the precision miter cuts that make the corners feel magical when you look at them takes a high level of skill. I must get it right the first time.

When we do this type of luxury presentation in a home, some of the materials are quite expensive and the pressure to make the exact right but with a properly sharpened saw, with the precision measurements already in place, is very real.

I make sure that I make accurate measurements and consult carefull with my clients to be sure that I am giving them what they truly want for the feeling that a renovation will provide.

My goal is that you will be so happy with the results you get that you will ask for more, and recommend me to the people you love.

For me, that is success.

Why I Switched to Finish Carpentry

April 4, 2024 / Hart Withrow Services

I’ve been a builder for most of my life. Growing up in Big Sur, I learned the basics early, as my family kept building the ranch where I was raised. We did everything: cement, framing, finish work. I’ve always loved making things with my hands and the details that make things work.

The first time I worked on a bridge, at Rocky Creek in Big Sur, it was for a retrofit. I learned about how a crew works together (or doesn’t), and I got some more basic skills in reinforced concrete. The next time I worked on a bridge, it was another retrofit, on Bixby Creek Bridge, the one you always see in car commercials or for articles about Big Sur in the news.

Bixby Bridge Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC BY-SA 3.0

My last Big Sur bridge was the one you see on this website. This was a “build out of nowhere” job at Rain Rock, an area that had always been prone to massive landslides. The span over the canyon took the place of the previous roadbed, and the rock shed tunnel directed falling rocks over the road and into the ocean so the road could stay open.

I built huge boxes out of plywood and framing wood, that had to withstand 30,000 pounds of pressure from wet concrete during a pour. I’m proud to say that not one of them blew out.

Bridge work is dangerous. My foreman on that job said it was like running through a fire with a can of gasoline. It’s true. It’s good to know that millions of people will drive over that bridge, but I will not know who they are.

After doing that kind of work, getting back into finish work and doing framing on big houses and shopping centers was a lot less nerve-wracking, to say the least. And there’s another side to it: the personal rewards of making people’s dreams come true.

What I love about doing detail work is the way it makes people happy, up close and personal. I get to use my imagination and creativity to improve the lives of the people I work with, and that’s a huge reward.

So that’s why I made the switch. I can still do big jobs, and I know how to make a team work. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Carpentry and Building Services

April 1, 2024 / Hart Withrow Services

Hart Withrow works in the Columbus, Ohio region including Upper Arlington, Dublin, Howell, and Hilliard providing a full range of finish carpentry, renovation, and building services including:

Trim work

Doors, including replacements and tuning

Framing

Kitchen remodels and refreshing

Plumbing updates

Lighting updates

More …

Pricing

Block rate pricing for small jobs.

Cost plus pricing for building.

Call or text 831.235.0178 today to discuss your project.

Hart Withrow is also available for large projects.

Reinforced Concrete

Working with reinforced concrete projects doing work on bridges. His foreman on one job reiterated that as a master carpenter, every board form Hart had built stood up to pressure and there was not one failure in the work he did on the multi-million dollar project.

Framing Structural Elements

Framing structural elements in large projects such as shopping centers as well as for home building,

High-End Home Renovations

Finish Carpentry

Finish carpentry on top-level properties with a value of $40M and up, including various elements of fine woodwork integrated into refined interior environments.

Interior Woodwork

Meticulous detailed wood interior work on top-level restaurant properties.

Furniture Building

Furniture building: original designs that are custom-built for clients who value creative and innovative approaches to materials including exotic woods and other elements.

Call or text 831.235.0178 today to discuss your project. You’ll be glad you did!